Vineyard: Ricetti

AVA: Redwood Valley, CA

Farming: Organic, Dry Farmed

Harvest Date: 12 September 2024

Bottling Date: 20 March 2025

Alc: 11.5%

Cases: 100

For the first time, ‘amando el sol’ is 100% Colombard from Ricetti, instead of being a blend between Colombard and Chardonnay. While I love how Colombard and Chardonnay complement one another, I felt it was time to let Colombard shine on its own.  August and September in Redwood Valley gave us consistently hot days without any major heat spikes, and cold nights – perfect for evenly ripening the fruit, maintaining acidity, and developing flavor while not stressing out the vines.

The Colombard was pressed directly, settled overnight, then racked off gross lees into a stainless steel tank for primary fermentation.  After primary finished, the wine was put down to a combination of stainless steel and neutral oak barrels to age for 6 months.  The stainless steel environment creates a tight, citrusy, slightly reductive style of Cololmbard, while the neutral oak opens up warmth and more floral aromas.  The two components were racked together in March to create the finished ‘amando el sol’ for bottling.

Indigenous yeast fermentation. SO2: 20 ppm total.  No other additions, unfined and unfiltered.

‘amando el sol’ means ‘loving the sun’, an ode to bright golden Colombard fruit that ripens happily in the California heat.